Shari, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"

Shari is a Meiji woodblock print by Tsukioka Kogyo, published in 1893 in Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue). The play unfolds at Sennyu-ji temple in Kyoto, where a relic of the Buddha (shari) is housed; a demon attempts to seize it, only to be repulsed by the bodhisattva Idaten, in a vigorous combat sequence that closes the drama. Kogyo, who studied with Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Ogata Gekko, treats this charged subject with the disciplined visual restraint of noh-e. The composition follows the conventions of the bare cedar noh stage: a low ground line, sparse setting and emphatic focus on the costumed figure. The keyblock outline preserves the silhouette of the figure - whether the demon brandishing the relic or the bodhisattva pursuing it - while overprinted patterns and selective bokashi gradations build the textiles of mask and robe. A palette of indigo, muted reds and earthy ochres conveys the supernatural intensity of the encounter without disrupting noh-e's emphasis on iconic stillness. Kogyo's documentary precision came from his unusual access to performances at the Hosho and Kanze schools during the Meiji noh revival, supported by figures including Iwakura Tomomi. Pictures of No Performances, issued by Matsuki Heikichi, was Kogyo's first dedicated noh series and the prelude to the monumental One Hundred No Dramas. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression as part of its substantial Kogyo collection, where it stands as an authoritative example of late nineteenth-century Meiji woodblock printing devoted to noh. Source: Art Institute of Chicago (https://www.artic.edu/artworks/155011).